


but i ponder you

by keonhee



Category: ONEUS (Band)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Misunderstandings, Pick-Up Lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:14:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26715058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keonhee/pseuds/keonhee
Summary: When Keonhee's night turns to shit, one man comes by and makes it better than it could have been.
Relationships: Kim Youngjo | Ravn/Lee Keonhee
Comments: 22
Kudos: 74
Collections: WEUS Harvest Moon Fest





	but i ponder you

**Author's Note:**

> hi! my first work for the fandom ;; i love the ship and i needed to write something for them
> 
> see you in other works, hopefully soon!
> 
> @ravnhee on twt

Glasses clunk against each other every few seconds as they were raised for a toast and then chased after someone’s lips. Laughter boomed. Candles flickered in the slow movement of air between the tables as waiters and waitresses made their way from couples to the counter and back, carrying notepads and trays with food and drinks.

In the midst of it all, Keonhee sat with a lone glass of wine, now emptied, and paid no attention to his surroundings. His stomach was empty but he didn't even feel any hunger. The feeling of nothingness overwhelmed him, surrounded him from all sides, and made it somehow harder to breathe, to stay calm and unbothered in a public place.

Keonhee clutched the phone in his hand, looking at it intensely as if staring would do anything: somehow reverse the time, or make everything stop, or maybe an announcement would pop up that would scream “HEY IT WAS ALL A JOKE! NONE OF IT WAS REAL! YOU STILL HAVE A BOYFRIEND! HE DIDN'T JUST BREAK UP WITH YOU VIA TEXT MESSAGE!”

None of it happened, no matter how hard he’d tried to will it to become real. Instead, Keonhee was looking down at his hands, his eyes feeling dry despite the tears prickling at the corners. Around, people were enjoying each others' presence. Couples cooed at each other, held hands, shared hushed whispers and giggles that existed only in their little worlds. Over here, Keonhee felt himself shatter little by little.

He thought they were doing well. They weren’t perfect but no one is; the thing was to make it work with or despite the differences, to prove it was worth it, that they were worth each other. Keonhee thought they were but judging by the empty seat on the opposite of him, his boyfriend - now ex - clearly disagreed, and didn’t even have the guts to voice it out loud anytime in the four months they were together. Couldn’t even do it in person and merely shot a text message to Keonhee who was still struggling to understand how he completely hadn’t seen it coming.

Was he too optimistic? Blinded by his adoration for his partner? He didn’t know. He felt stupid and fooled by his own instincts.

And to think he got them this reservation as a tryout to see if he should book it here for their 6-month anniversary, too. Highly ironic.

He felt ready to leave. He had to leave so he didn’t have to stay here any longer, surrounded by people who were happy and in love and not stood up and dumped all in a single text message. He felt overwhelmed by their presence and the longer he stayed, the more awful he felt.

Or so he thought.

"Hi, is that seat taken?"

Keonhee lifted his eyes from where he’s just pocketed his phone. The first thing he saw was a smirk; a plump top lip and a slightly thinner bottom one, a beautifully-curved cupid's bow, all stretched in a smile one could describe as flirty. After that, he saw the eyes; shining in the dimmed light, deep and enticing.

Keonhee blinked, considering his options, before a quiet sigh made its way past his lips. "No, I'm here by myself. Was gonna leave soon, actually."

“Oh, seems like I got here just in time then. Sorry I kept you waiting.”

Keonhee felt dumbfounded.

The disorienting stranger beamed at him before he sat down on the opposite side, the chair scraping the floor as he scooted closer to the table. His face got illuminated in the light of the candles now so Keonhee could see more of his features. He had a round nose and a round chin but he wasn’t chubby. His eyebrows were covered by his dark bangs. In the light, his dark eyes seemed even deeper. His outfit was semi-casual, a patterned shirt with a neat collar and a pair of black slacks. He seemed friendly and was really handsome, Keonhee concluded.

The stranger leaned back, having a quick look around their surroundings. “So. You come here often?”

Despite being already confused enough, Keonhee felt himself become even more bamboozled. Was this guy hitting on him? Just like that?

Too tired to further ponder about that, Keonhee decided to just indulge the man with the casual conversation. “Not really, it’s my first time at this place. I heard a lot of nice things about it so I wanted to check it out for myself.”

“Oh yeah, they have a great steak. The pies I got to taste were also pretty good.”

“And what pie was your favorite?”

The man grinned, his teeth shiny in the flickering light.

“I like _cutie-pies_ the most.”

Keonhee paused for a second, processing the statement, but before he could hold it in, a very undignified snort was let free from inside of his throat through his nose. He didn’t even manage to cover his face with his hand to keep any class, but the man opposite of him found that very pleasing. Shaking a little with laughter Keonhee reached for the jug of water to pour himself a little. “Okay, okay. Do they serve those here?” He asked jokingly.

“Well, I’m sitting with one.”

Despite everything, Keonhee felt himself mirror the smile on the stranger’s face. The man was silly and definitely way too forward for the place they met at, and came out of seemingly nowhere, but what else could Keonhee do here? What were his other options? Go home and mope? Call the ex-boyfriend despite the clear “don’t call” at the end of his break-up ment? In a way, this type of company was what Keonhee needed. Something light and casual to get his mind off of things. The flirting wasn’t that much unwelcomed either. It’s not like Keonhee got flirted with too often, anyway.

“I don’t think I got your name,” Keonhee spoke up, his grip on the glass of water firm.

“Oh, it’s Youngjo,” the stranger replied, “sorry, forgot we weren’t acquainted before with how clearly destined for each other we are. And you are?”

“Keonhee,” Keonhee answered, amusement tinting his tone. “How are you so sure we’re destined for each other, hmm?”

Youngjo looked pleased to be asked that. He was clearly ready for the question. “Out of all people, all possible scenarios, it’s the two of us that meet here. Not you with someone else, not me with a different person. One might think it’s an accident but I deeply believe it’s actually fate doing its job.”

Keonhee got quiet after that. Usually, he’d laugh, not really a believer in God or any other bigger forces controlling the lives of people, but tonight was just different overall. There was something behind Youngjo just joining him at the table and Keonhee supposed he was thankful, whatever it actually was. He looked down at the hand encircling the glass of water. It wasn’t how he expected his night to get, but he wasn’t even mad. It would have been much worse if he were on his own.

Out of nowhere, Youngjo breathed through his nose loudly enough for Keonhee to lift his eyes once again.

“Okay, I hoped it wouldn’t get to this point, but I guess there’s no other choice,” Youngjo said with a serious tone before he reached inside of his back pocket. He pulled out a deck of cards from his inner pocket, making Keonhee furrow his brows in confusion. “I’m gonna ask you to pull a card, memorize it, and put it back in the deck, is that alright?” He asked, spreading the cards on the table between them.

Keonhee’s eyes shifted between Youngjo and the deck, making sure he was hearing it right. After a small hesitation, he shrugged and reached for a card. Shielding himself from Youngjo’s eyes with his other hand, he checked what he pulled. The seven of clubs. Without a word, he put the card back, making eye contact with Youngjo to make sure he doesn’t peak. He got beamed at before Youngjo reached for the deck to shuffle it.

“Are you ready?” Youngjo asked, still sounding serious. After Keonhee affirmed he was with a nod, Youngjo promptly pushed the deck off the table, making the cards scatter to the floor. Keonhee didn’t even get to gape in shock before Youngjo whipped out a different card from his breast pocket.

“Is that your card?”

Keonhee’s shock turned into disbelief and then, before he knew what he was doing, he was laughing. Youngjo was holding a simple note with a phone number, definitely his own, while making a face so stoic and serious like it was a business meeting. The waiter serving a table nearby gave them an odd look but none of them cared.

This is how Keonhee knew he wouldn’t regret staying.

During the next hour, Keonhee laughed many times. It was a whole-hearted, deep laugh that made his chest feel tight and floaty but in a way that was far from uncomfortable. It felt like all stress, all sadness from just a little time ago was dissipating from his with each shake of his shoulders. It was lured out of him with each of Youngjo’s words until Keonhee felt nothing but content. The man was marvelous, he was friendly even if sometimes his flirtiness made him awkward. Somehow, they worked together. Keonhee felt comfortable and carefree, more than he has in quite a while. In a way, the presence of Youngjo was exactly what he needed. Whether it was an accident, whether he was god-sent, Youngjo was the best even if unexpected part about Keonhee’s night.

He felt bad the night had to end. 

“I’ll have to leave soon, I didn’t expect to start my evening so late” he admitted, looking away to not see the pout on Youngjo’s face. “I’m meeting with a friend tomorrow and I can’t stay up too long. But… I’d love to meet again? If that’s fine by you, of course.”

A warm smile spread on Youngjo’s lips, so wide it turned his eyes into crescent moons. “I’ll be waiting for a message from you.”

“Wait, you gave me your number, let me just text you so you can save mine…”

“Oh yeah!”

Keonhee typed in the number and thought for a second before sending a cake emoji to the recipient. Quite pleased with himself for remembering one of the first things Youngjo told him this evening, he raised his head and expected a short laugh from his companion. Instead, he saw confusion on Youngjo’s face. Not entirely sure what to do, Keonhee waited for a little before he finally asked “What’s up?”

Youngjo blinked before he raised his eyes, looking very puzzled. “I got a text a while back that my date for today won’t make it.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have my data turned on so it didn’t reach me in time.”

Keonhee nodded slowly, trying to process what was happening. Was Keonhee just a pregame for him, despite the meeting seeming so genuine the entire time? “Sorry to hear that?”

Youngjo squinted as if he was analyzing Keonhee. “Which means… I shouldn’t have been on a date tonight. But I was.”

Keonhee shifted under the gaze. “Well, was it so bad that you regret it now?”

“No, it was great, but-” Youngjo exhaled, “I thought I was meant to meet with you for the date…”

“Do I look like the person you were supposed to meet?” Keonhee asked quietly, trying to understand the situation.

“That’s the thing, it was a blind date. I was supposed to meet someone in a black shirt with a red collar. Our friends arranged that. I don’t know what his face looks like, but I’m pretty sure his name is Keonhee, too.”

Oh. _Oh_.

“And you thought-” Keonhee gasped, “Oh God, you thought I was your date because I fit the description, even the name, and I was sitting by myself, correct?”

Youngjo shrugged, looking low on energy despite being radiating the entire evening. “I mean, I thought it was the reason you sat here. Thought you were waiting for me.”

“Oh, I was waiting for you _my entire life_ , but tonight I was supposed to meet with my boyfriend,” Keonhee replied. Youngjo’s eyes lit up up the compliment but the glint quickly dissipated at the mention of a boyfriend.

“Your boy-?”

“Well, my ex. He dumped me with a text. I thought we’d have a date tonight but he broke up with me instead. So I sat there like a lonely loser until you came in.”

For the first time in the entire evening, Youngjo seemed speechless. “So it was all a coincidence?”

Keonhee snorted. “Didn’t you say it was destiny that brought us together? Because what else would it be. Two stood-up guys ending up with a great evening in each other’s company.”

Youngjo smiled. It was once again a sweet smile, but Keonhee just thought anything the man did always seemed warm and sweet to him. “I suppose I was right.”

Keonhee reciprocated the smile. He truly appreciated the company of the man across and after a rather quick inner conflict, he decided to go for it. “You know what, I’m gonna text my friend to postpone the meeting. I see him every week anyway. How do you feel about a late-night walk along the Han River? With me, as a special attraction.”

“Let me think about it,” Youngjo pretended to think for a moment, even added the dramatic tap on the chin for the effect. “I guess I don’t have any other plans. My plants won’t miss me if I don’t come back for a few hours more.”

Keonhee grinned. “Perfect. I sure hope your plants would love me, though. When we eventually meet.”

“Oh, they will. They immediately know when I like someone very much.”


End file.
